Transfer deadline day failed to live up to its usual hype with none of the Premier League's top five clubs securing a major big-name signing, as Liverpool's pursuit of the £16m Ukraine forward Yevhen Konoplyanka collapsed at the 11th hour.

Sides at the bottom end of the table did venture into the market in an attempt to strengthen, with Crystal Palace making five signings and Fulham three, but Arsenal's loan deal for the Sweden midfielder Kim Kallstrom was arguably the most eye-catching signing of the day.

Liverpool's transfer frustrations intensified when they missed out on Konoplyanka. The 24-year-old was in line to become Brendan Rodgers' only addition of the January window following days of complex negotiations between Anfield officials and the player's club, Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk. Konoplyanka had agreed the terms of his move and members of Liverpool's medical team had travelled to Ukraine to help facilitate the move.

But, despite Liverpool meeting the buy-out clause in Konoplyanka's contract, Dnipro's president, Ihor Kolomoyskyi, refused to sign off the player's release and Rodgers was left empty-handed in his attempts to bolster his team's Champions League pursuit.

Earlier Manchester City's move for the Porto pair Eliaquim Mangala and Fernando broke down over the combined £46m asking price, though the club plan to return for Mangala and possibly Fernando in the summer.

Arsenal, who had been in negotiations to sign Julian Draxler from Schalke, instead moved for Spartak Moscow's Kallstrom until the end of the campaign, with Arsène Wenger attempting to bolster a midfield that has recently been hit by injuries and suspensions.

Chelsea completed the £12.5m signing of the French defender Kurt Zouma from St Etienne on a five-and-a-half-year contract but have allowed the 19-year-old to remain with the Ligue 1 club on loan for the remainder of the campaign.

The Tottenham manager, Tim Sherwood, confirmed that he was not looking to bring anyone in, while Manchester United were content with their £37.1m deal for Juan Mata, completed earlier in the window.

It meant that there was to be no repeat of deadline day in August – when Arsenal splashed the cash on Mesut Özil and United spent £28m on the former Everton midfielder Marouane Fellaini – or the major splurges seen in previous years.

However, more than £130m was spent by Premier League clubs in January, a significant increase on last winter, due mostly to the business done by teams at the foot of the table.

Fulham, second-bottom in the division and struggling for form, acquired the German midfielder Lewis Holtby on loan from Tottenham until the end of the season before completing an £11m deal for the Greek striker Kostas Mitroglou on a four-and-a-half-year contract from Olympiakos. Mitroglou, who has been in prolific form this season, could have joined West Ham in a more lucrative switch but opted to link up with René Meulensteen at Craven Cottage, who strengthened his forward line following Monaco's move for Dimitar Berbatov. Fulham also brought in John Heitinga from Everton.

Cardiff City were one of the busier clubs, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer utilising his contacts at Manchester United to bring in Wilfried Zaha on loan until the end of the season and the full-back Fábio da Silva on a permanent deal.